- Zack Baun’s massive breakout season should make him a top free agent target: While the Philadelphia Eagles should be considered the favorite to re-sign him, there are plenty of strong options for Baun to thrive in 2025.
- Nick Bolton could fill a significant need for the Los Angeles Rams: The Rams linebacker corps was one of the worst in the league in 2024, and adding a young and proven starter can keep that from being the case for at least a few more seasons.
- 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
Before the 2025 NFL offseason kicks off in earnest, it’s always fun to go over some hypotheticals in an effort to move around this year’s crop of free agents to suit our fantasy football needs best.
As things stand right now, there are plenty of key NFL players set to hit free agency, and while there are sure to be franchise tags and players re-signing in the next month or so, the way things look right now allows us to get creative and imagine best case scenarios for fantasy purposes.
For the purpose of this article, all players will be going to new teams and, for the most part, salary implications are thrown out the window, as we shuffle things around.
LB ZACK BAUN
Ideal IDP landing spot: Arizona Cardinals
Let’s assume that Philadelphia is out of consideration – hopefully its not – because even though that would be the ideal landing spot/re-sign, we’re coming up with alternate scenarios for this article. Maintaining Baun’s LB1 status becomes more difficult the further he gets from the Eagles, but sending him to Arizona, led by Jonathan Gannon – a former Eagles defensive coordinator who runs a similar enough scheme, where Baun could continue to thrive. Both the Eagles and Cardinals ran exactly 70% of their regular season defensive snaps in zone coverage, and Arizona’s 2024 LB1, Kyzir White, owned a 10.5% blitz rate compared to 10% from Baun in 2024.
LB ROBERT SPILLANE
Ideal IDP landing spot: Carolina Panthers
The Panthers ranked dead-last in run-defense grade (37.4) this past season due to a struggling linebacker corps led by Josey Jewell, who posted the worst run-defense grade (52.2) of his career after the team lost arguably their best run-defending linebacker Shaq Thompson for the season. Thompson is a pending free agent this offseason, and the Panthers should be in the market for a more reliable starter to contribute every week. Spillane has proven to be that over the past two seasons, earning the sixth-best run-defense grades in each of the past two seasons as a starter with the Las Vegas Raiders. He is the second-highest graded run defender (91.2) since 2023, behind only Bobby Wagner. Spillane would potentially take over the LB1 role in Carolina, as he did in Las Vegas, which would put him keep him as a weekly IDP starter despite switching teams.
LB BOBBY WAGNER
Ideal IDP landing spot: Dallas Cowboys
With Eric Kendricks potentially departing in free agency, Wagner stands out as another strong veteran leader that the Cowboys can bring in to replace him this offseason. Wagner is reaching the end of his NFL career and likely hopes to join a roster that will compete in 2025. Ideally, the Cowboys can be aggressive enough in free agency, which includes adding him to the lineup, that they can deliver on that potential. DeMarvion Overshown looked like a great long-term option for Dallas this past season, but another significant injury puts his 2025 at risk and creates a need for a one-year linebacker to come in and hold things down until he can get healthy. Wagner could be that option. He would return his usual strong IDP value in the process as he’ll stay locked in as a three-down option.
LB ERNEST JONES
Ideal IDP landing spot: Las Vegas Raiders
Jones bounced around three different teams in 2024, never truly finding a home. With the Raiders needing to establish a new identity under this regime, bringing in an affordable and established young player like Jones could be a good addition to the defense. Jones’ value didn’t increase in any way in 2024 due to his level of play and his team’s willingness to move on from him so easily, which is exactly the type of low-risk/high-reward type of player that the Raiders should bet on this offseason. Jones has the experience to serve as the team’s LB1, and on top of a locked-in spot on the roster, he is exactly what IDP managers should hope for in Jones bouncing back to a top IDP asset.
LB NICK BOLTON
Ideal IDP landing spot: Los Angeles Rams
The Rams linebacker situation wasn’t pretty in 2024, creating an obvious need for stability and experience at the position. Bolton has been a key piece of the Kansas City Chiefs defense over the past four years and could be one of the top free-agent linebackers to hit the market because of that success. He’ll likely command one of the bigger contracts this offseason. Linebacker is one of the Rams’ biggest needs, so Bolton would be a key addition to return IDP value as an every-down player, likely for multiple seasons.
EDGE CHASE YOUNG
Ideal IDP landing spot: Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons’ search for a quality starting edge defender continues this offseason, and Young stands out as a potential answer to their key need. Young has flown under the radar in recent years due to injuries and lower sack totals, though he’s played over 700 regular season defensive snaps in each of the past two seasons and delivered exactly 66 pressures in each year – a top-20 mark in 2023 and top 10 in 2024 for the position. Young has the combination of youth and potential, which a team like Atlanta won’t have to break the bank to acquire. Young would push for at least 700 defensive snaps again in 2025 and finally get a shot to hit that double-digit sack mark for the first time in his career, as he’s finished among the top 88th percentile in expected sacks in back-to-back seasons.
EDGE KHALIL MACK
Ideal IDP landing spot: Dallas Cowboys
After failing to make a splash in free agency last offseason, Jerry Jones and company hopefully learned their lesson and will truly go all-in this offseason by signing Wagner (mentioned earlier) and arguably the top edge defender in this year’s free agency class as well. Mack is coming off his second-straight season as a top-six-graded edge defender on the year, proving that he can continue as a high-end contributor entering his age-34 season. The Cowboys have relied heavily on Micah Parsons in recent years while they’ve slowly lost other contributors at the position, which could be the case again this offseason with Demarcus Lawrence and Chauncey Golston pending free agents. Giving Parsons elite help would be significant to the team’s potential success in 2025, especially on defense, where they struggled in 2024, while also allowing Mack to put up high-end IDP production in a starting role.
EDGE JOSH SWEAT
Ideal IDP landing spot: Washington Commanders
The Commanders pieced together a serviceable edge group in 2024 under Dan Quinn but lacked weekly consistency, which is something that Sweat should be able to provide. Sweat has been a high-end contributor for the Eagles in recent seasons, specifically as a pass-rusher, as he’s posted the most pressures for either team in two consecutive seasons and would make for a strong addition to pair with Dorance Armstrong as a capable starting edge duo for Quinn to work with and get the most out of, as he did with pending free agent Dante Fowler. Sweat is an upgrade from Fowler and can play more snaps while potentially adding more production, which is something that IDP managers should be excited about.
S JEREMY CHINN
Ideal IDP landing spot: New York Jets
Chinn ended up having a solid season for IDP in 2024 on his one-year contract with the Commanders, acting as the primary box safety. Chinn tied a career-high in tackles (117) set from his rookie season while also delivering a new career-high two sacks and finishing with the second-best PFF grade (65.2) of his career. The Jets, meanwhile, are set to potentially lose five safeties who played over 2,700 defensive snaps in 2024, opening up a massive need and opportunity for Chinn to come in and bring IDP value back to the Jets safety position. Chinn could step into the Tony Adams role, which allowed for 49% of snaps in the box, even more than the 40% that Chinn played in 2024 and allowed for a top-20 IDP safety finish.
S TALANOA HUFANGA
Ideal IDP landing spot: Las Vegas Raiders
With Tre’von Moehrig a pending free agent, the Raiders would potentially be losing 89% of box safety snaps on top of 87% of their overall safety snaps this offseason. With Patrick Graham staying on as defensive coordinator, the Raiders will need a safety capable of playing in the box and rushing the passer after ranking third in DB blitz rate (18%) in 2024, opening up an opportunity for Hufanga to step into a role more suited to his skill set. Hufanga didn’t get a lot of utilization as a blitzer in San Francisco, partly due to missed time, which has been an issue in each of the past two seasons. However, in 2022, when given more opportunities to blitz (39), he landed two sacks, was named to the AP All-Pro team and was arguably more impactful than he’s ever been. Hufanga has potential as a playmaking safety, specifically as a blitzer, as he proved in college, and if utilized in that role, his IDP value will only rise.
[/am4show]